Lightning Tracker vs SailMeteo
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lightning Tracker
This app provides real-time lightning strike data on a live map, offering alerts for nearby activity. It helps users plan outdoor activities and stay aware of approaching storms with detailed strike information and weather radar integration.
- Live lightning strike map
- Nearby strike alerts
- Ground and intracloud strike types
- Weather radar integration
- Closest strike distance and age
- Optional monthly Pro subscription
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Lightning Alerts is a live lightning tracker and storm map for nearby strike awareness, powered by enterprise-grade lightning data. Open the map without creating an app account. Check recent strike activity before travel, golf, hiking, boating, surfing, fishing, open-water activities, or everyday weather planning. The map can show both ground-reaching and intracloud strikes. Ground mode helps filter cloud flashes so busy storms are easier to read. What you can see: - Live map of recent strike activity - Nearby alerts for your location or a saved place - No app account required to open the map - Ground-reaching and intracloud strike types - Ground mode to reduce cloud-flash noise - Closest-strike distance, age, direction, and street context - Strike strength, polarity, and detailed strike type - Polarity filter: show only positive or only negative ground strikes - Strength filter and Find > Strongest in view - Weather radar with strikes on the same map - Save one place you care about - Clear controls for alerts, ads, privacy, and analytics - Optional monthly Pro subscription that removes ads Use Lightning Alerts before you head outside, while storms are nearby, or when you want a clearer view of activity around a place. Choose the strike filter, inspect the closest strike, and use notifications to return to the live map when activity changes. Photographers and sprite chasers can show only positive ground strikes, which are less common and often stronger. Tap a strike to see its distance and direction. Lightning Alerts is a weather awareness tool, not an emergency warning system. Always follow official weather alerts, local rules, and venue safety guidance. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
SailMeteo
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Marine weather and sailboat routing, simple and clear, for every tack. SailMeteo brings marine weather, sailboat routing and the choice of an anchorage together in a fast, readable app built for people who actually go to sea. Wind, gusts, waves, currents: see it all on an interactive map, compare models and plan your passages — even offline, once you're out at sea. === FEATURES === - MARINE WEATHER ON A MAP Wind, gusts, waves, swell, currents, pressure, temperature, cloud cover, precipitation, visibility and CAPE, on an interactive map with clear wind barbs and readable colours. - MULTIPLE MODELS Compare several weather models (GFS, AROME and others) to sharpen your decision. Fine-mesh models capture coastal effects such as sea breezes far better. - TIME ANIMATION Scrub through the forecast hours with one gesture, and loop it to see how the weather turns hour by hour. - SAILSCORE: CHOOSING YOUR ANCHORAGE Tap a point in the water: SailMeteo rates how comfortable it would be at anchor, from the wind, the swell and above all the land that shelters it. A rose shows where you are sheltered from, and a curve follows the score hour by hour. Nothing is merely asserted: the stretch of open water, the chop it raises and how much swell actually reaches the point are all shown. - MY ANCHORAGES Save your anchorages: they stay on the map with their name, and are compared with each other for the coming night — ranked by the WORST score of the night, never an average that would hide a blow at 4 am. - WEATHER WATCH Turn the watch on at your anchorage: your position is saved and the app warns you before wind, gusts or sea go past YOUR thresholds, with the notice you choose, up to 48 hours. Alerts work with the app closed and with no network. Move away from the watched point and the watch stops and tells you. - SAILBOAT ROUTING Enter your boat (polars, motoring speed) and let SailMeteo compute a route that accounts for the forecast wind and keeps clear of land. Two approaches: "When to leave?" ranks the slots of the coming days, "Route this departure" optimises the time you chose. GPX import and export to your other navigation apps. - OFFLINE AT SEA Download an area before casting off and keep access to the forecast with no network once you are out. Ideal for stretches with no mobile coverage. - BOAT PROFILE Save your yacht's characteristics and polars, backed up in the cloud, for routing at your own pace. - MARINE WEATHER GUIDES Clear guides to understand the models, read a wind chart, judge the sea state and sea breezes, and prepare your passages. - MAKE IT YOURS Units of your choice (knots, km/h, Beaufort, metres, feet…), night mode to preserve your night vision, local time or UTC, north lock, looping playback. - ACCOUNT AND SYNC Create an account (e-mail, Apple or Google) to find your settings, areas, routes and anchorages on all your devices and on the web (sailmeteo.fr). Sync is instant. === SAFETY AT SEA === Forecasts, routing and SailScore are provided for guidance only. They replace neither official marine weather bulletins, nor the chart, the pilot book or your own seamanship. You remain solely responsible for preparing and for the safety of your passage. === YOUR DATA === - GDPR compliant - Data synced securely - Never sold to third parties - Full account deletion in one gesture, right inside the app === FREE === SailMeteo is free, funded by discreet advertising. A consent dialog lets you change your ad preferences at any time. === FAIR WINDS === Because every trip out deserves proper weather preparation. Made for sailors — contact@sailmeteo.fr --- Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://sailmeteo.fr/confidentialite.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SailMeteo at none against Lightning Tracker's 1. On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Lightning Tracker sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $0.99 per month. SailMeteo asks for nothing beyond the download.
Lightning Tracker ships an update every 2 days, SailMeteo every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lightning Tracker | SailMeteo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 3 days |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lightning Alerts Oy | Sebastien AFFRE |
In-app purchases
Lightning Tracker
- Ad-free monthly$0.991 Month
SailMeteo
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Lightning Tracker free?
Is SailMeteo free?
Do Lightning Tracker or SailMeteo have ads?
Which is updated more often, Lightning Tracker or SailMeteo?
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